(Point form summary at end of comment)

The authenticity of the Stalingrad section of the broadcast, even the entire broadcast itself, has been up for debate. How do we know for sure that the Stalingrad part (or the broadcast itself) was faked or not? How do we know when, and if, the Sixth Army was cut off from communication, since communications went down and back up again during the chaos of war? Chuikov wrote that not all of the Sixth Army was encircled at Stalingrad, and some of the units remained in the outskirts (according to Marcel Stein's Field Marshal Von Manstein: The Janushead - A Portrait). Could the Sixth Army men who were not encircled have taken part in the Christmas broadcast?

Some people who argue that the broadcast is not authentic cite Ian Kershaw's Hitler 1936-45: Nemesis. When looking for the sources that these authors use to make this claim, the results aren't convincing. Kershaw's sources are from William Craig's Enemy at the Gates, The Battle for Stalingrad, London, 1973, pg. 295-6; and Beevor, Stalingrad (1998), pg 313. Craig doesn't directly link a source. Craig only mentioned that he listened to the Ring Broadcast, without mentioning his source for the supposedly fake Stalingrad part. Beevor's citation numbers skip over the exact paragraph where he says that part of the broadcast was faked.

Some who claim the broadcast was not live cite works by Dominik Schrage and Ansgar Diller. Schrage's article, "»Singt alle mit uns gemeinsam in dieser Minute«. Sound als Politik in der Weihnachtsringsendung 1942", mentions a radio production schedule that was found. "Gerüchte besagen, die Meldungen der Außenposten von den Fronten seien im Studio produziert worden, und es ist auch durchaus plausibel, dass die Meldungen zwar tatsächlich über größere Entfernungen gesendet, dann aber aufgezeichnet und zusammen geschnitten wurden." Or, according to Google Translate: "Rumor has it that the outposts' reports from the front lines were produced in the studio, and it is also quite plausible that the reports, although actually broadcast over long distances, were then taped and edited together". A "rumor" isn't evidence. Schrage points to Diller's 2003 article about the production schedule of the broadcast, mentioning that these pre-recorded parts were made in case of technical difficulties. What if there were no technical difficulties, the broadcast was live, and the pre-recorded tapes weren't used? Schrage also mentions "characteristic noises" were made in the broadcast, but was that possible with the technology of 1942?

Further, Hans-Ulrich Wagner says about the audio tape, "In dem Fall geht es aus dem Tondokument nicht klar hervor, ob es eine Aufzeichnung ist oder ob es der Mitschnitt der Livesendung ist.", or, "In this case, it is not clear from the audio document whether it is a recording or whether it is a recording of the live broadcast." (page 5 of https://rundfunkundgeschichte.de/assets/RuG-44-1-22018.pdf).

Diller's article shows a typed version of the production schedule of the Christmas radio broadcast. Unfortunately, it appears to have not been digitized yet. It's unclear how this production schedule was verified as legitimate. Peter Harmsen notes that, "Goebbels' copious diaries do not mention any deception such as this, and other participants are also not on the record as confirming that the broadcast was a work of fiction. The fact the German Navy allocated two submarines for participation in the broadcast on December 23 serves as evidence that the Berlin broadcaster was indeed in contact with frontline troops. Kriegstagebuch der Seekriegsleitung 1939-1945 Teil A, Band 40, 467. The program schedule, which came to light decades after the war, also shows no indication that it was all an act." (Darkest Christmas: December 1942 and a World at War, 2022, page 199). If the War Diary of the Naval War Staff (most likely aimed at a private audience) mentioned the use of two U-boats assigned to partake in this Christmas broadcast, then that is strong evidence that the Christmas broadcast was performed live (rather than faked in a German studio, as some claim).

Diller claims that the Christmas radio broadcast was done via tape recording, leading into a brief look into German wartime-era recording technological advancements. Although invented in 1940 by Braunmühl and Weber, the patent for the high frequency magnetic bias Magnetophon, was not issued until late 1943 - about a year after the 1942 Christmas radio show (patent # DRP 743411 Daniel et al., Magnetic recording: the first 100 years, 1999, pages 62-67). Improved for recording music, this Magnetophon featured AC bias with stereo recording, and was the first tape deck with synchronous motors. Before this, the Magnetophon R23 was used. It had inferior sound quality, and was primarily used for electronic news gathering operations.

Could the entrapped men in Stalingrad have taken part in the Christmas broadcast via telephone? Or, could wireless technology have accomplished this? One possible method is with the Elster DMG2T, a mobile UHF wireless telephone link manufactured in 1942 https://cdvandt.org/elster_dmg_2t.htm . At the bottom of the page, an example in 1945 shows that the DMG2T allowed for the encircled Germans in Breslau/Wroclaw to secretly communicate to Goebbels in Berlin,

"The Russians concluded, after due investigations, that there must exist communication between the in- and outside German services. Russian interception services could not, however, find German wireless traffic. They suggested, that the only logic explanation was, an existing hidden telephone line connection. They decided to dig a deep trench around the city of Breslau, as to disrupt any cable connection. What they didn’t were [sic] aware of was, that the Germans used an, Ultra High Frequency, Elster DMG2T set, placed on the roof of the main Post Office building. The German station on the other end of the line was erected in the mountains, about 125 km away from Breslau (territory then still held by the German armed forces)."

One of the places mentioned in the 1942 Christmas Silent Night broadcast is Catania, Sicily. A search for "Weihnachten" has two photos showing soldiers speaking and listening in a radio room. Although it says January 1943, that could be an estimated date, since a Christmas tree is visible: https://bild.bundesarchiv.de/device_barch/dev2/2019/10-27/a2/58/file77pshjqdpon1744rxla6.jpg & https://bild.bundesarchiv.de/device_barch/dev2/2019/10-27/0e/2d/file77prra6f7v915bii8la4.jpg

To conclude, we have a 1942 photo of Spanish mothers speaking with their sons who were deployed to the Eastern front, very similar to the Christmas radio show (https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/detail/c2d81b14-0259-11e7-904b-d89d6717b464/media/b7cec09e-46a0-e0be-1af3-e1f3ffd940f2?mode=detail&view=horizontal&q=rundfunk&rows=1&page=10) . The description reads, "Bijschrift Spanische Mütter sprechen über den Rundfunk zu ihren an der Ostfront kämpfenden söhnen. In der Spanischen Hauptstadt Madrid konnten kürzlich die Mütter der an der Ostfront eingesetzten spanischen Soldaten der "Blauen Division" über den Rundfunk met ihren Söhnen sprechen. Eine Mutter während der Unterhaltung mit ihren Sohn vor dem Mikrophon, das in einem grossen Theater der spanischen Hauptstadt aufgestellt wurde." or, "Caption Spanish mothers talk over the radio to their sons fighting on the eastern front. In the Spanish capital of Madrid, the mothers of the Spanish soldiers of the "Blue Division" deployed on the Eastern Front were recently able to talk to their sons over the radio. A mother talking to her son in front of the microphone installed in a large theater in the Spanish capital."


Summary

-questions, not all of Sixth Army in encirclement
-Kershaw, insufficient sources
-Schrage, "rumor", pre-recordings only for technical difficulties?
-Wagner, unclear if Christmas radio audio tape was a recording of a live broadcast, or pre-recorded audio
-Diller production schedule article refuted by Harmsen, no mention in Goebbels' diaries, two U-boats assigned to partake in Christmas broadcast (War Diary of the Naval War Staff)
-patent for music quality tape recorder only given in 1943, too late for 1942 Christmas broadcast
-wireless tech used in 1945 example of encirclement in east Europe to communicate to Berlin, made in 1942
-photos of radio room, man speaking and listening to radio device, in a location mentioned in Christmas broadcast
-photo of Spanish moms communicating via radio to their sons on the Eastern front, 1942

In fact the Stalingrad broadcast was FAKE.

The Germans could not link up to the encircled 6th army and merely pretended to do so for reasons of propaganda.

Other than that... a very interesting broadcast.